The Various Random Mutterings of Kite

[47403]

Another intensive but enjoyable read, shame the gen didn't pan out but you still managed to get a fair share of winners underlined, the biggest shock was this

did kite really say this?- I decided to stay indoors on the Sunday, to attack the garden.

Bet the neighbours curtains were twitching, look Bert, the landlords out cutting the grass or eeeh look, I wondered what had happened to that nice lad, we used to see all the time

Wheres next, is there much left to chase in the South?

 

[jayalongtheway]

Sandbach
Another nice peaceful Cheshire shack, with 3 platforms, although I’m guessing the 3rd is rarely used, even though it’s got a PIS unit displayed

The only service to use this platform is the 0722 Crewe-Bolton, mainly to allow an ATW to pass.

Needless to say, at the risk of repeating myself, more enjoyable reads.

 

[noddy1878]

I haven't been able to get on for a few weeks but you have not disappointed with your relentless attack of shacks and scoring units! Good going!

 

[Kite159]

The only service to use this platform is the 0722 Crewe-Bolton, mainly to allow an ATW to pass.

Needless to say, at the risk of repeating myself, more enjoyable reads.

Bit of a microgrice to score the connection at the north end of the station

------

Most likely the neighbours were wondering what that noise was from the electric mower
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
20th May – A trip to Bedford

I had news that 153364 had been sighted earlier in the week on the Bletchley – Bedford line which was good as I’ve been waiting for that 153 to come down so I can grab it one Friday, so after some split ticketing to allow me to travel on the 17:00 from St Pancras, with a seat reservation (just in case of any issues at the gateline). Unusually for a Friday I was starting with the 14:59 from Grateley, rather than the earlier service from Andover, this was formed of 159006 & 159103, so taking a seat in 103 for the nice run to Waterloo. I was thankful I picked my tickets up the day before as the TVM was “out of service”, although the sign of a SWT employee with a big roll of ticketing stock alighting to fit the issue was good to see.

Once into the UK’s busiest station I went down to the subway and to the Bakerloo platforms, where I leapt on a service without checking if it was required (or even the ID of the rear set), however winner 3537 and dud 3261 took me to Charing Cross, where I waited for a few minutes before duds 3551/3236 rolled in for the bus stop leap to Piccadilly Circus, where I went down to the Piccadilly line for a spot of linear hopping. 129/228 to Leicester Square, followed by a dud pair, followed by 874/182 to Holborn and 148/161 finally to Kings Cross St Pancras, arriving with a good 15 minutes to go before departure, so it was a short walk to the EMT platforms at St Pancras.

A note on the display for the 17:00 “only formed of 5 coaches”, great I through as the barriers opened for my ticket, and I went to get onto 222007, grabbing a prime standing spot leaning against a seat back, as the service to Corby (and Sheffield) departed pretty much full, for the non-stop run to Bedford, where the train emptied out (hint if you have a tight connection, be near the rear of the train to get to the stairs before everybody else), over to platform 1A where the 153 had just rolled in, and it wasn’t 364, but dud 374. I think the swear filter might have a word if I put a couple words used under my breath, but ah well. With information that my last 2 Thameslink 387s were south of the river working Brighton – London Bridge services, I was originally going to take the 153 all the way to Bletchley for some 350 action southwards (as the two southbound EMT services I had highlighted as connections when the 150 rolled in were both dud).

Anyhow, a bit disappointed in standing for nothing, I checked out RTT, a southbound service from Corby called at Luton a few minutes before a southbound from Sheffield (which doesn’t call at Bedford), so it was onto dud 222014 for the run to Luton, followed by a short wait before dud 222006 rolled up to take me back to St Pancras, a quick check of a good friend’s source highlighted 2 of my last 3, 377s working out of Victoria (with the 3rd sitting down Littlehampton), so it was to Victoria, via winners 11063/11064 to Warren Street, followed by a few dud sets before I boarded dud 11043/11044 to take me to Victoria, which was in a state of chaos (nothing new there).

Winner 377417 was attached to dud 377402 working an Eastbourne/Littlehampton service, so taking a seat in 417, and waited for departure. That time came and went before finally 6 minutes late we rolled out, for the short run to Clapham Junction for a short wait before winner 377313 rolled in attached with duds 377320 & 377137 for the short run to Balham, before jumping back to Clapham Junction on duds 455805 & 455816 for a detour via Sainsburys for some supplies, before 159011 & 159017 rolled in on the final Exeter service, so taking my usual seat in the front unit, was a good call because 159011 can now claim membership of the 1K club.

Nothing unusual back to Grateley, with a short walk I was home, slightly disappointed that the 153 didn’t pop up, but happy that I only need 377429 to clear the 377s. Hopefully that 153 will show up at some-point so I can finally get it into the bag.

-------------------

21st May – The Great East West in Anglia

It was a welcome return to my little folding bike for a day in Anglia land, focusing mainly on the two lines which go from east to west with the bike coming in handy for those very limited served shacks on the Breckland line. Due to the wet weather I decided to drive to the station in time for the 05:27 service, formed this morning of 159014 which I decided to stay on until Clapham Junction to cross over to the Southern platforms to await a couple services from Brighton, just in case that 377 decided to pop up, the first sort of disappeared at East Croydon, and the 2nd was a pair of duds which were slightly rammed, so I decided to head to Vauxhall on mega dud 455736.

After a slight detour to Sainsburys for a newspaper and something to munch on, I headed to the Victoria line platforms and just decided to jump on the first thing towards Kings Cross so I could try and grab a decent seat on the Kings Lynn service. Duds 11093 & 11094 was on the set to take me to Kings Cross St Pancras, where I had a short walk to platform 9 for the 07:48 (or so) Kings Lynn service, formed of a lightly loaded (in the front coach at least) 365523, previously only had on a couple Finsbury leaps so a good chance for some speed on the non-stop run to Cambridge, and then onwards to Ely, where I alighted to await the next Peterborough bound service and the first of many DMUs of the day.

Dud 170271 rolled in to take me westwards to a station which a few years ago was quite hard to get into the book, but these days Manea is easy enough to do, with a 2 hourly service. Nothing much around the station, just some housing, but thankfully on the Ely bound platform was a shed for a waiting area, featuring some magazines and some interesting information about the history of the area. Anyhow my hour fester passed with a few other services dashing through the station (handy having a level crossing so you know when trains are due as the line is dead straight) before 170271 returned from Peterborough to take me back towards Ely, remaining on board down via the fields and farmland reaching Bury St Edmunds

A short wait at the grand old station for the next Ipswich service, noting a required 170 heading towards Cambridge, and in rolled dud 156409 to give me some 156 thrash to my 3rd new shack of the day in the shape of Elmswell, over the level crossing and to the other platform, noting not a lot around the station apart from a travel agents in the old buildings. 170206 was up next to take me back to Bury St Edmunds, where I had a quick walk/push to a nearby Tesco for some lunch. It was back to the station where the next Peterborough service was down as “delayed”, due to a bridge strike between Ipswich & Stowmarket (and the 156 at Stowmarket, so I decided to take the risk as if the worst should happen the service will turn into a Stowmarket – Cambridge service). My last 2-car 170/2 rolled in, 170270 for the short hop to Thurston, becoming my only 170/2 into the book which is under 10 miles.

A barrow crossing here at Thurston, and a small garage down a slope, with the 156 down as being delayed (appeared the line had reopened and instead of turning that 156 around at Stowmarket so it would get away on time, it was sent down to Ipswich 30 minutes late, and the turnaround times are not the most generous). Anyhow 20 minutes late 156409 reappeared, to give some good thrashing along the line after Bury St Edmunds, getting the most of the speed allowed to try and regain some time, however I now had a dilemma, with the late running service, would the return working of 170270 be put ahead of that 156 at the junction for the single track and pass the 156 in Dullingham loop, or would it be held on the main-line for the 156 to clear the single track section. Anyhow as I alighted at Dullingham with its manually operated level crossing gates I decided to go for a short ride back up the line to Newmarket.

However the ride wasn’t needed as the 156 arrived first at the single platform station, and 10 minutes later 170272 rolled in, a quick double take before grabbing a seat for the run back to Cambridge, 270 must have swapped with 272 at Ipswich to go up to Lowestoft, anyhow it was no issue as rolled into Cambridge a few minutes late (although a connection with a Kings Cross fast was lost for a couple passengers who then boarded a 321 on an all-station caller [wouldn’t it be quicker to wait for the next non-stop service 30 minutes later if they wanted London?]. A required 170/2 was waiting in the other north facing bay platform (which at the time I through it was my last, but checking my records 170202 has been marked off as being had but I have no records of it). Before 205 through it was dud 170522 working towards Birmingham to take me to Ely (another XC 170 cleared for more than a bus stop leap), where an EMT service was due towards Norwich.

However that 158 was dud, so I let it go and waited for winner 170205 to take me eastwards to nearly the end of the line at Wymondham, with the bike unfolded, Google maps fired up with a good signal to show me the way (as Peter Frampton once sang) to Spooner Row, wasn’t the best of rides as I was in a head-wind (if that makes sense), but I reached the staggered platforms, noting the large hump on the Norwich bound platform, and got ready to flag down the train (As I couldn’t remember if Spooner Row was down as a request stop). 170205 returned from Norwich to take me back west for the short hop to Attleborough, where I disappointed the guard in already having a ticket (I bet she wanted to issue a ticket from Spooner Row!).

Another level crossing shack with staggered platforms (so might be useful for any tight connections), but like before my bike was unfolded and away I went, pedalling like the wind through the little town centre and onto a small lane and 4 and bit miles later I found myself at the small village of Eccles, with Eccles Road station quite handily located for the local population (if there was a decent train service that is). A required EMT 158 was spotted dashing towards Norwich, and I had time to relax, catch my breath back, before dud 170273 rolled in to take me the just over 3 miles to Harling Road, and time for the long ride, just over 9 miles to Google (suggesting 45 minutes, with 20 minutes spare) it should have been easy enough to get to Thetford in time for the 19:10 towards Cambridge, on a route described as “mostly flat”...

Mostly hilly it should have said, made worst when it told me to turn off a little lane onto a byway, which was an unmade track, not a lot of speed could be gained as I had to be careful not to hit anything, or fall off. Eventually I made it back to road, but it was so hilly, more hilly than Cornwall, the estimated time kept on getting later and later, I could feel my legs starting to freeze up, eventually I reached Thetford and eventually found the station, the 19:10 had come and gone, and once onto the footbridge my legs froze up, took me a good few minutes to try and walk down those stairs at Thetford as winner 158810 rolled in (so not all bad) to take me to Ely. Taking a seat outside the toilet, just so I could spread my legs out to recover, but I was in pain.

At Ely, a dud XC was up first which I gave a miss for a quick (ish) walk to Tesco to grab a bottle of pop, and back to the station to await dud 365505 (another Finsbury leap unit) to take me to Stevenage, for I had got given some news that a certain 365 would be on the service from Peterborough in 30 minutes time. Strangely we didn’t join up with another 365 at Cambridge, and a required 317 was spotted on a Stansted service, a semi-fast to Stevenage (then fast to Finsbury), so lots of motor noise. In the 30 minutes I had to kill I decided to have a push of the bike to a nearby McDonalds before heading back, slowly (one hand controlling the bike, the other hand carrying my burger and drink/McFluffy). Back onto the platform and in rolled 365501 attached with 365534, my final 365 (and hence Great Northern unit for the time being).

I was toying with the idea of bailing at Finsbury, but didn’t fancy that staircase with the bike in tow, so stayed on until Victoria for a fast walk with the challenge of getting on the 22:20, all was going well with dud 11069/11070 rolling into the platform as I arrived to take me to Oxford Circus (before anybody asks, yes I did check Vauxhall, however there is a ~ 12 minute gap between departures and I would arrive pretty much at the start of that gap [with the next service being the 22:20 stopper to Woking], where the Bakerloo line was having one of its moments with the next service not due in for 6 minutes, potato! Bang goes any chance of making the 22:20, so I decided to do some 72 stock hunting to kill the time before the 23:40 Salisbury, which is below in summary format:

3237 & 3535 to Charing Cross
3254 & 3533 to Waterloo
3541 & 3299 to Charing Cross
3248 & 3566 to Embankment
3233 & 3542 to Waterloo
3235 & 3560 to Lambeth North
3232 & 3544 to Elephant & Castle
3552 & 3262 to Lambeth North
3547 & 3246 to Waterloo

Quite a good score rate leaving only 9 sets left to get, but I wanted some fresh air, and the diesel should have arrived (as it normally rolls in around 23:10), so out of the underground to play a game of find the 159, and it was 159006 to take me home, grabbing a nice table seat before all the Basingstoke passengers ignore the 23:35 Southampton service and bundle on (the Southampton calls at Fleet & Farnborough and is overtaken), departing pretty much full and standing in the middle coach. Emptied out at Basingstoke & Andover, but a few other passengers alighted at Grateley, where I was glad I drove in the morning, not only was my legs killing me, but it was raining quite heavy.

Anyhow with most of what I had aimed to do complete, just leaving a particular station on that line to do (resulting in a replan of another Anglia day), but it was a good day (although I am still feeling the pain today). Some pictures:


170271 departing Manea


158806 & 170638 rushing through:



The Shed...


170271 & 170270 passing at Bury St Edmunds:


Elmwell:


The barrow crossing at Thurston:


Alight here for a day at the races:

Complete with bendy track:


170205 departing Wymondham:


Spooner Row:


Attleborough:


The Road of Eccles:


170273 departing Harling Road:

 

[FQ]

Sounds like a good couple of days! Shame about the 153 and the hilly cycle doesn't sounds fun at all... Congrats on clearing GN though!

 

[Techniquest]

Much jealousy at clearing all of Great Northern! Mega ouch to the horrid cycle ride mind...

Two excellent reads of course, and LU was kind there that's for sure! Hopefully 153365 turns up for you when you come up to my stomping grounds a week tomorrow

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Another rewarding day or so on the rails. Hope you are recovering from your excursion over the Thetford Alps! The Doctor will be along with a remedy soon - I expect that it will be another severe round of shack attacks prescribed as the cure.

And you keep on bagging the winners too - how long will it be before that last 377 falls? And you are one up on me in clearing Great Northern as I still need 2*365 but there again I've not really been trying to get them of late.

 

[Kite159]

Thanks Keith, my body is slowly recovering from over-riding, but my mental state on the other hand isn't quite there today.

Not sure what I'm doing on Friday, part of me is with a linear hop down the Maidstone East line or a part is to hunt down that 377 and see if that 387 finally shows up when it's meant to (and do a spot of 376 hunting)

 

[Blindtraveler]

Full marks on the biking and clearing, get well soon

 

[Kite159]

26th May – A “need a break from work related stuff” evening trip

As per the title, I needed a break from a hard week at work, to de-stress so a trip to London was in order, with getting some information about location of the GTR trio, which were all working in the evening and were all gettable. A quick walk to Grateley and the TVM was out of order (what again?), and the 15:59 was being displayed as “formed of 3 coaches”, which in my eyes was a bit odd as this service would form the 17:50 away from Waterloo. The PIS was a tad wrong as in rolled 158883 leading 159006 & 159002, with the run towards Waterloo meant that 159002 overtakes 159004 at the top of the 159 mileage league.

A slightly early arrival into Waterloo and it was a quick walk across Waterloo Road to reach Waterloo East, the first Charing Cross bound service from platform B was from Ramsgate and was “formed of 11” coaches, and in rolled dud 375624 leading winners 375620 & 375302, so off to a good start for the 61 chain roll across the river, with a short wait before another 61 chain roll back across the river on dud 465019 leading winner 465925. A short wait at Waterloo East and dud 376031 rolled in with winner 376018 on the rear, to take me back to Charing Cross. 4 required units in the space of 20 minutes, quite a good result.

Walking semi-fast around the crowds to Embankment, and to the eastbound platform, and winners 21335/336 rolled in on a required move to Blackfriars, where I just missed a northbound pair of 377s (due to the barrier doing their usual “this ticket isn’t valid here” routine), so it was onto the next northbound service, formed of 319007 & 319008 for the short hop to Farringdon (good to hear the announcements on the platform that “you can sit in any part of this train as first class isn’t in use” for standard class only services). A short walk over to the southbound platform to allow a pair of 319s to clear before a Brighton bound trio, and checking RTT saw that the Bedford bound trio was around 5 down so I could risk the Blackfriars hike.

Dud 387127 rolled in with winner 387202 in the middle and 387103 at the rear, another 387/2 scored (which will hopefully make life easier than searching for it later on Gatwick Airport – Victoria runs), and it was back to Blackfriars for a short walk across to platform 2 to await the next trio of units to Bedford, and in rolled duds 387124, 387113 and winner 387121, at last 121 has fallen, and my last Thameslink unit (until the 700s start entering service in a ‘few’ weeks), and with the semi-traditional Thameslink hop to City Thameslink, the 387 is in the book (I was hoping to head to at least Farringdon, but that 5 minute delay put that on hold). 377503 & 377502 took me back up the hill to Blackfriars (another 14 chains under the wheels), and it was down to the underground.

First up was a D-stock, dud 7518 and required 7037 to Temple, followed by 21543/544 to Embankment, where I decided to head to the Northern Line, however no luck with required units, and I jumped onto the 3rd service, duds 51558/51559 for the short run to Waterloo, walking through the crowds (passengers waiting for 7pm where 1st Off-peak & Super Off-Peak tickets became valid) and onto the next departure from the Wimbledon suburban platforms, with 455732 & 455705 taking me the short run to Clapham Junction, and yes the new AC motors do sound different.

Anyhow I was waiting for a certain service from Horsham, which unusually for Southern was running on time, with a Brighton bound single 442 spotted looking rather cosy spotted on the other platform and pretty much on time (ish) dud 377442 rolled in with winner 377429 on the rear, a small jump for joy for my final 377 (and final Southern branded unit), as I boarded for the short run to Victoria. To the underground, and a D-Stock formed of winner 7524 & dud 7006 took me to St James Park, a couple dud units later before winner 21493/494 rolled in to take me to Westminster, followed by 21523/524 to take me to Embankment (I know, all short little bus stop leaps, but gets them into the book).

Thankfully this time the Northern Line was smiling at me and winners 51510 & 51509 took me under the river to Waterloo, where a short walk later saw me onto the 19:50 departure, formed of sub-1000 mile 159022, which was quite cosy until Woking, but I managed to get a seat for the 72 mile & 49 chain run back to Grateley, with a short walk home.

I was now feeling a lot better than I did a few hours ago with 7 required units into the book, plus a handful of LU units, although I can’t decide which class to aim for next with the options being 317s, 357s, 376s or 165s, of which I suspect the 165s will be harder to grab than the others, owing to the number of Chiltern services which run fast to outside the zones.

 

[FQ]

Sounds like a really productive evening there! Congrats on clearing Thameslink (for now) and Southern! How many Southeastern services will have a triple unit on on a late Saturday morning/early Saturday afternoon do you know?

 

[palmersears]

An excellent evening's work, Kite. Though you're a braver man than I doing London anywhere close to a rush hour!

Indeed this has got me thinking I'd quite like a wee trip out of a summer evening now to get some numbers! Might have to nip over to Crewe or some such.

 

[Kite159]

Sounds like a really productive evening there! Congrats on clearing Thameslink (for now) and Southern! How many Southeastern services will have a triple unit on on a late Saturday morning/early Saturday afternoon do you know?

You might get the odd trio 375 from Victoria towards the north Kent coast, within the metro on a Saturday you might get 465+465+466s out working alongside the pairs of 376s, outside Charing & Cannon

 

[FQ]

Cheers!

 

[Techniquest]

*Tries to resist...Yes...No, no I can't...*

Jammy git for clearing the 377s! Not at all jealous, not even one bit

Clearing all of Thameslink is quite an achievement too! No doubt plenty of leaps on the way for the 700s, just like the rest of us. Been a long time since I did a session in The Core, bring it on!

Know the feeling about de-stressing, Monday will do the job for me, then will need to do so again before the end of next week

 

[Kite159]

*Tries to resist...Yes...No, no I can't...*

Jammy git for clearing the 377s! Not at all jealous, not even one bit

Clearing all of Thameslink is quite an achievement too! No doubt plenty of leaps on the way for the 700s, just like the rest of us. Been a long time since I did a session in The Core, bring it on!

Know the feeling about de-stressing, Monday will do the job for me, then will need to do so again before the end of next week

Cheers

 

[Kristofferson]

Sorry Kite, thought I'd commented on these!

Congratulations on Thameslink and the 377s, absolutely fantastic progress and commitment


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[noddy1878]

Congratulations on clearing the 377s! That's is an achievement due to the sheer number of them.

 

[Kite159]

Congratulations on clearing the 377s! That's is an achievement due to the sheer number of them.

Thanks Noddy & Kris

And now for something you don't see everyday:

 

[47403]

Wow, congratulations. All Thameslink and Southern 377s cleared, tremendous achievement indeed, plenty winners out n about on the night, railway gods were smiling on you but as I said before, if your in the right place, you have every chance to get winners. At least the 700s will give you a bit extra to go for. I may just ignore your thread for a week, nothing nasty intended, just saves me buying a book to read for my sojourn next week.

On the pic, I think Gok Wan will want a word with that guy, bit of a fashion disaster, long socks and 3/4 shorts, not a good look, unless your German ofcourse.

As usual a cracking read, thanks for sharing kite

 

[Techniquest]

You've got several trip reports coming from Kite, that's for sure. I'll have one going up tomorrow evening too!

 

[alexf380]

You'll also (hopefully) have one from me on Thursday/Friday.

Congratulations, Kite, on such a momentous achievement!

 

[Techniquest]

You'll also (hopefully) have one from me on Thursday/Friday.

Congratulations, Kite, on such a momentous achievement!

Excellent, I shall look forward to something to read on my work-bound commute on Friday or Saturday then You can probably imagine, commuting yourself, how boring it gets after a while!

 

[Kite159]

27th May – The return to the Crouch Valley

A nice easy Friday was planned (easy compared to previous weeks dashing around), with a trip down to Southminster to grab my remaining two shacks on the Crouch Valley line. A short walk to Grateley station and I picked up my day return from the TVM which was working today, and the 14:59 pulled in, with a pair of refurbished units, 159101 & 159103, so taking up my usual seat in the sub thousand mile 103 for the nice run to Waterloo, nothing unusually being spotted on route.

I think the TVM didn’t encode my tickets correctly as they failed to operate both the barriers at Waterloo main-line side and the barriers to the jubilee line platform, so I had to be allowed through the manual gate, with some time to kill before having to get to Stratford for some linear hopping to Wickford, I decided to do some 96 stock hunting, and after a couple dud sets came and went, required 96107 & 96110 rolled in to take me out of the tunnel section to Canning Town. 2 minutes later 96035 & 96056 got entered into my book (well cells on my excel sheet highlighted to become yellow) for the 78 chain leap to West Ham, the next service wasn’t due for 5 minutes (I suspect a North Greenwich terminator), so it was to the DLR platforms with duds 38 & 28 for the short leap to Stratford.

A short walk to platform 9, and the first service was a pair of duds to Southend, then what appeared to be a fresh air carrying super-fast Norwich Loco (seriously, standard class looked very lightly loaded, first class looked busy for the first stop Ipswich service), and in rolled the Norwich stopper, which was a tad busy, with dud 321445 leading winners 321346 & 321359, as I climbed on board I even got a seat by asking some youth to shift his bag (who looked disgusted as “how dare someone ask me to shift my very heavy bag so they can get a seat”). A good run to Shenfield as I alighted and had a short walk over to platform 5 for the next Southend service, with winner 321358 leading dud 321325 for the 4 mile 28 chain trip to Billericay.

A quick visit to the little boys room later (not the best signposted, but they are located on the London bound platform), where I couldn’t help noticing a slight flaw in the revenue protection at Billericay, the main entrance is barriered, but the side entrance towards the large car park is currently open (although a new building appears to being built to provide a barriered exit to the car park, poor fare dodgers), anyhow my next service was required and thankfully it wasn’t wasted as dud 321447 rolled in with winners 321312 & 321427 to take me to Wickford, where a short while later duds 321426 & 321442 rolled in bound for Southminster.

Taking a seat in the motor coach of 442, and a short while later through some rural countryside and I alighted at my first new shack of the day in the shape of Burnham-on-Crouch, and with 20 minutes (or so) to kill before the same pair would return, I spotted a nearby Co-Op, but sadly they didn’t have much in the way of sandwiches left. Back to the station and it wasn’t long before 321442 & 321426 returned from the end of the single track branch to my final stop at Althorne, which has pretty much nothing around, apart from a limited service bus to take commuters home. So I took a seat and started to read the Evening Standard to give me something to do before the sound of the level crossing signalled the arrival of the next service, this time it was a 12-coach service with the rear unit locked out of action due to short platforms. Duds 321428 & 321348 was all I could get at first (with dud 321441 being on the rear), and it was a short run to the end of the line at Southminster, passing the sidings once used for nuclear waste.

The driver had a long walk to reach the front unit which was off the platform and the guard locked out the rear unit, before I took a seat in the motor coach of 348, for the run back towards Shenfield, arriving into platform 4 via the dive under spur. I had 15 or so minutes to kill before the next service, so quickly dashed out of the station (well as fast as having to go via the manual gates allowed) and to a nearby Co-Op (Tesco is also available) to grab a meal-deal for dinner, before heading back to the station. I had 2 options to getting back to Stratford, the first was a dud 321 from Colchester Town, the 2nd was winner 321361 with dud 321311 on the rear from Southend, so climbing on board 361 for the nice run back to Stratford, where due to my dodgy ticket I decided to bail and head to Waterloo via the Jubilee line (I did consider a loco from Norwich, but that was running a few minutes late).

The next Jubilee line departure was in the hands of winners 96080 & 96037, and with the next 2 departures afterwards marked down as dud, I stayed on all the way to Waterloo, for some motor noise. A short walk to the main-line platform to the 21:20, which tonight was formed of 159107 leading 158881, and taking a seat in the 158 for the trip back home, giving me a chance to reflect, 2 more shacks in the bag clearing that branch line, plus 6 more 321s into my book, so a good evening as it means not having to worry about Southminster again.

28th May – A Bridge too far, a 395 on tour

And now for something quite unusual, I’ve done rail tours using the ‘traditional’ coaching stock, HSTs and 159s, but today it would be on a 395, covering lines within the south east which don’t normally see 395s. Covers some unusual lines and any micro-grices which I’m aware of will be highlighted in italics. It was a short tour, which allowed me to start the day from Grateley on the 05:59, which today was formed of 159103, which run pushes the unit which for a fair while was sat at the bottom of the miles league over the thousand mile mark.

It was a nice run into Waterloo (making use of the wi-fi to play catch up with the forum and other internet sites, to pass the time away), then onwards to Stratford, with duds 96121 & 96002 taking me forward to the end of the line, a fast walk to platform 9 with 4 services highlighted for a potential time wasting leap to Liverpool Street, however when I got to the platform the 5th was running late and required 90002 was sat on the platform hauling a service from Norwich, so jumping on board for the short run into Liverpool Street, gets another GA 90 into the book, no idea which DVT was at the rear if that was ‘needed’ as well.

Arriving a good 20 minutes ahead of my plan, I swung via Tesco metro outside to pick up supplies for the day, before heading to the sub-surface line platform, a dud S7 was up first followed by required S8 21041/042 to Moorgate, followed by another dud S7 before 21065/066 got itself removed from my required list for a leap to Farringdon, originally I was going to see if any Thameslink services were around to reduce the walk, but sadly there was a 15 minute gap in frequency, so after another dud S7, it was another metropolitan line service, required 21051/052 getting the run to Kings Cross St Pancras. Swinging via the toilets before I made my way slowly up to the South Eastern high speed platforms to board dud 395005, which was going to be the unit on tour, my assigned seat was in coach A right at the front and I had been given the backwards facing seats with nothing but the wheelchair area in front (well apart from some hot water urns for the static trolley run by some fine looking ladies from EMT’s Rail Gourmet team).

Anyhow, it was a clean getaway before pulling into the platform 4 loop at Stratford International, for the disused platform put in for the North of London Eurostars which never happened, it was front door only due to the large step down to the platform with the wheelchair ramp being used, time for a quick photo before everybody had to reboard for some 140 mph action across the Essex marshes and coming off the CTRL with a non-stop run via Ebbsfleet high level platforms and into Gravesend platform 0 for a quick photo/toilet stop and reversal for the bay platform normally used by networkers. Back out to Ebbsfleet with the crossover into platform 6 covered and down into the Church Path Pit Siding 1. These two sidings were built to stable 395s, however due to the locals they don’t get used for that purpose, a quick reversal back to Ebbsfleet and the crew in the front cab getting another walk and away from Ebbsfleet via the briefest of pauses at Strood for a signal to clear before going down to the Maidstone West line.

We came to a stop at Halling for a photo stop, which I’m calling as a shack score on grounds that I stood on the footbridge to take a picture, before the briefest of stops just before Maidstone West to pick up another member of staff before a nice run onto unusual ground for a 395, down via the up through line at Tonbridge and onto the Redhill line where we reversed before going via the down through line at Tonbridge and onto the Hastings line and down to the Tunbridge Wells Turnback Siding. Basically a siding which was put in to turnback 12-coach trains due to being unable to turn back at Tunbridge Wells due to the curved platform and tunnels.

A brief stop at Tunbridge Wells for a photo & toilet stop (we were asked not to use the loos on the train to try and save water) causing a bit of chaos as regulars tried to board thinking it was the London Bridge train (well apart from the shape, it is the same colour as the 375/6s which have been to Derby). Back on board and back via Tonbridge and into the one of the Jubilee Sidings at Tonbridge, another reversal and back onto the main-line swinging via the disused Post Office Siding to the east of Tonbridge station and onwards towards Ashford and apart from swinging via the Cranmore loop just before Headcorn station it was onwards to Ashford platform 2, for a short break.

Back onto the 395 and it was a nice run towards Canterbury West, via the Down Loop line behind the platform, a brief pause before Minster for the signal section to clear, passing the curve which I still need and a nice non-stop run via Ramsgate & Margate before arriving into Faversham, pretty much bang on time and for a 80 minute break. After a quick look around the station, and finding a Tesco I headed back to the station to sit and wait for departure time (had nothing better to do).

Departure time came and we departed heading up towards Sheerness on Sea, which felt strange going non-stop through those stations, and into platform 2 at Sheerness on Sea to await the arrival/departure of (an annoyingly required) 466, the branch line running a few minutes late which allowed the doors to be open at Queensborough when we awaited the other 466 to clear the single line section. Onwards and turning right towards the Western Junction to continue back towards Gillingham, for a quick reversal into the new bay platform at Rainham, before going via platform 1 at Gillingham and the Rochester Up Lay-by Siding, mainly the former platform 1 at the old Rochester station, and through the new Rochester and down towards Ebbsfleet P6 for the 2nd last reversal of the day to go back into the [2nd Church Path Pit Siding[/i], with a bit of delay as the signaller originally set the points to be the same siding as earlier in the day.

The final reversal (and I must say the seats on a 395 are fine for short journeys, but a tad firm for an all-day trip), and via the crossover to pause briefly at Ebbsfleet P5 before continuing down onto the main Channel Tunnel Rail Link, getting upto top speed rather quickly (can’t be many rail tours where you finish the day doing 140 mph!) and into the final new micro-grice of the day with the platform 1 loop at Stratford International, similar story as the morning with the ramp being used to bridge the quite large gap to the disused ‘international’ platform. A brief wait for another 395 to overtake, and for an unknown 373 to storm past (which personally I think I got a good picture) before the final approach into St Pancras.

I had time to kill so my plan was to head to Liverpool Street to grab a 317 to Tottenham Hale and to try and get Lea Bridge into the bag, I should have checked RTT for Thameslink as it would have avoided the long walk from the South Eastern platforms to the Sub Surface line platforms, however I was in luck as the first service was required 21353/21354 which I took to Farringdon, followed by a dud S8 and then required 21453/21454 which I took to Barbican, I had 20 minutes left to kill, what could go wrong?

The signalling on the sub surface lines, with no more services caused by a failed signal at Baker Street, I swore to myself as I fired up Google Maps, forgetting about doing Lea Bridge, and walked the short distance to St Pauls on the Central Line via the City of London (some large buildings), the first service I took was formed of winners 91027/92238/92404/91289 (always a bonus) to Bank, and I just managed to jump onto duds 65509/65510 on the Waterloo & City line to take me to Waterloo. McDonalds was its usual chaotic self so it was to Sainsburys for a meal deal, before boarding 159013 & 159001 which was forming the 20:20 to Yeovil Junction.

Looking at the timetable, it appears the final train from London to Exeter is the 19:20 on a Saturday (20:20 during the week and 21:15 on a Sunday!), I got a seat for the busy service and went home, Lea Bridge survives for another day. A small handful of new LU stock, plus a loco, plus around 230 miles of 395005, an enjoyable day, with some pictures below:

Platform 4 at Stratford International


Platform 0 Gravesend:


Halling, technically a shack visit


Not the service to London Bridge:


Shouldn’t you be on the other side with has overhead wiring?


466013 arrives:


An unscheduled call at Queenborough:


Where was that 466?


Looking menacing at platform 1, Stratford International


Beep Beep

 

[Techniquest]

Another two excellent reads good sir

I still consider that cheating with the shack score at Halling, but if it works for you then good news

Lots of micro-gricing that I need there, I'd have right proper filled my Quails on that tour.

Good thing you had an escape route when LU fell apart, certainly your Excel sheets must look much better now

 

[Blindtraveler]

I really rather fancied that tour but didnt have the money at the time. Good time on AGA too by the sounds of it. Ta for sharing

 

[Kite159]

Thanks Techni & BT, it was an unusual rail tour to say the least.

29th May – A gentle potter around London

Or a “make it up as I go along” day, with no real plan in mind as I drove to Andover, said hello to my favourite ticket office lady (who was pleased I wasn’t asking her for a weird and wonderful rover this week) to pick up an outer boundary travelcard, and to board the 07:44 towards Waterloo. Today formed of 159009 & 159022 and with the run towards Waterloo pushing 159022 over that thousand mile mark (4 left). I got word that sadly my source’s source doesn’t show Chiltern 165s (neither C2C’s 357s, but that could have been that my final 6 were sitting on the depot not required for the reduced Sunday frequencies), however one of my last 317s was out, so that gave me a rough idea what to do.

Into Waterloo, and up towards Marylebone, just to have a look, annoyingly 165009 was on a Stratford-upon-Avon service which ran fast to Gerrard’s Cross, and then spent the remainder of the day doing Leamington – Stratford services, I had 10 minutes before departure and the queue to the ticket office was quite long, no chance of being able to grab a BZ6 ticket in time. Anyhow I was about to give up my hunt until I spotted 165007 on a service which was due to depart 30 minutes later and called at Wembley, so I had a little sit down and fester as the train came onto the screens (just in case something else arrived on top of it). 6 and a half miles later I arrived at Wembley Stadium station, the area geared up for the football happening in the stadium. There were 4 services due to call heading south, and all were dud, so I decided to head for a short walk to Wembley Central.

10 minutes later (at a gentle pace), and I was at the WCML station, and down to the northbound Watford DC line platform, with 378255 doing the honours of taking me up to Harrow & Wealdstone, where I spotted a required 350/3 heading north, running slightly late (think it was around 20 down at this point), so something to keep an eye on as it was ‘due’ to attach to a service from Birmingham. Nothing else of interest and I boarded 350102/350265, well managed to squeeze myself onto the units, as they were slightly busy (not helped with the previous southbound service running fast between Milton Keynes & Watford due to a late delay). A short run into Euston later (sadly I would say and into the 10 mile club, but both were already members).

With keeping an eye on the time, I decided to play it safe and headed to the Victoria line, and after 2 duds, decided to jump onto duds 11046/11045 for the run to Tottenham Hale, to give me a good 5 or so minute connection at the main-line station, plenty of time to cross the footbridge and to platform 1 (overhearing advise that the next Stansted Express had more space towards the front of the train with the benefit of being closer to the terminal), and as hoped winner 317654 rolled in to take me the 6 miles to Liverpool Street, making use of the cross-overs at the north end of Hackney Downs station to arrive into platform 3 rather than platform 1, due to engineering works on the “fast” lines on the 4-track section. Making use of my mobile internet I noticed that the 350/3 arrived into Northampton after the service from Birmingham had departed, so I suspected it got swapped with a unit bound as ECS to Milton Keynes to form a Milton Keynes – Euston service, only one way to find out though.

A quick check of RTT saw a +10 at Watford Junction or a +1 at Harrow & Wealdstone, so making use of a BZ6 ticket I purchased earlier at Harrow & Wealdstone (when making use of the toilets, I randomly decided to buy it just in case a service heading north was required), so it was to the SSL platform, and required S7, 21393/21394 took me to Barbican, and what could go wrong? Duds! A dud S8, followed by a dud S7, and a dud S8 so I decided to cut my losses and jumped onto dud 21029/21030 to Kings Cross where the train got very busy with football fans, so I bailed and waited a couple minutes for a nice empty Hammersmith bound dud 21493/21494 (which didn’t stop some fans boarding, until I advised them it would probably be as quick to change at Great Portland Street and wait a couple minutes, than it would be to walk at Baker Street).

Anyhow, at Euston Square and via Sainsburys for a meal deal before heading down to a Birmingham bound trio of duds 350129/350112/350235, and getting a seat in the front unit, for the nice non-stop run up towards Watford Junction, where I alighted, spotting a LM 319 in P11, and a 377 in P10, and onto P9 where winner 350377 rolled in, slightly busy but I designed to alight at Harrow & Wealdstone and wait 15 minutes for the next Southbound service, just in case it was required. Sadly it was dud, so over to the Bakerloo platform with the same set as I had earlier in the day, 3262/3552 to Wembley Central, being in the rear coach for a fast getaway.

Thankfully as it was nearly 3pm, the football fans were mostly in the stadium, so it was just shoppers I had to walk around, but I managed to get to Wembley Stadium station in just over 7 minutes, in time to see a required 165 heading north, which wouldn’t be back for a good 50 minutes. A couple dud 165s heading south and I decided to chance a run to Marylebone on dud 168004 with a 3 minute connection to the next northbound Aylesbury service; otherwise it would be a case of some S8 action and a walk from Wembley Park. We arrived on time, and I spotted the rear unit was required, so a short walk to P6 and onto dud 165004 leading winner 165013 to Wembley Stadium, where I had a 28 minute wait (the southbound service was dud), so taking a seat underneath the large footbridge, overhearing various noises from the stadium, and as expected dud 165018 rolled in with winner 165017 on the rear. 2 of the 165s left, and I knew 009 was out in Warwickshire, leaving just 032 as an unknown (no sight of it at Wembley depot, but could have been at Aylesbury depot or working services to Aylesbury via the Met).

Anyhow, Lea Bridge had reopened from its half day closure, which gave me an idea, with duds 3256/3545 taking me the tiny leap to Baker Street, it was to the Metropolitan platform as it was the next train, dud 21007/21008, I through it was going to be quite tight, but in the end I had a good 5 minutes to get from platform to platform, and onto duds 317669/317667 for the short run to Tottenham Hale on a Cambridge service. At Tottenham Hale I had a few minutes to get across the platform and onto the Stratford bound service, knowing I would have a +1 at best at Lea Bridge (during the week and on Saturdays it is better connections). Fresh dud 317654 rolled in and departed 2 down, as I spent the run down to Lea Bridge checking out bus connections to get a bus away from the area.

However when we rolled in, the northbound service was just rolling in, so I had a fast walk up and over the footbridge (located at the Stratford end) and down and jumped onto dud 317665, well attempted to jump on but there was some massive oversized pushchairs in the way on a busy service, but I made and back to Tottenham Hale. Nothing else of interest in GA land, so it was to the Victoria line, to be rewarded with required 11017/11018 for the run down to Victoria. With London Bridge high level being closed, meant most of the SET services were being diverted into London Victoria, which opened up more choices, sadly they were mostly dud (apart from 67010, but that wasn’t really in public service having worked a Pullman service from somewhere!). I was about to give up when a seriously late running service from Ramsgate arrived (signalling had gone to pot around Sevenoaks), which had a required 375 on the rear. I was expecting the service to have stops ripped out, but dud 375626 leading winner 375901 departed around 40 minutes late, but kept it’s stops (within London at least) as I alighted at Bromley South, having just missed a fast service from the Kent Coast.

I had a couple options, either see what was coming up from Ashford via Maidstone direction, or see what service was heading next to Orpington, the 375 from Ashford via Maidstone was dud, but winner 375802 & dud 375710 was on the Folkestone service, so around the fast chord around the various junctions in the Bickley area [dud from last year when I did on a Blackfriars – Hastings service], and to Orpington. Duds 375703 & 375918 took me back to Bromley South, and a trio of duds rolled in a few minutes later from Rochester direction, giving that a miss, and I was rewarded with another pair of duds, this time 375814 & 375817 to take me back to Victoria. Ah well, it will only get harder to get winners as time goes on, as I headed to the SSL platform with winner 21513/21514 working a circle line service to Westminster.

Down the many stairs and to the Jubilee platform and duds 96103 & 96100 took me onward to Waterloo, giving me some 96 motor noise for the day, via the chaos at McDonalds and to the 19:45 Salisbury service, which since the May timetable change, calls additional at Andover (rather than running fast to Salisbury, which the 20:45 still does). It was onto 159008 & 158885 for the nice run, with the driver making an additional call at Basingstoke for a group of drunken passengers who didn’t hear the announcements that “this trains calls at Andover & Salisbury only”, which meant a couple minutes late arrival into Andover. A short drive home and a quick sort out of my bag for the following day, giving me chance to reflect on scoring 7 new units, plus a few LU. Not as manic as previous unplanned Sundays but hopefully those last 2, 165s won’t take long to locate, and if it means purchasing a BZ6 ticket to get me to Gerrards Cross, then so be it.

 

[noddy1878]

I quite liked the sound of that 395 tour. Good read. I liked your last London day too! Bit of everything.

 

[Blindtraveler]

The shear veriety available in London continues to deliver qualitty for so many including yourself so nicely done there, looking forward to Mondays writeup from your Midlands adventure.

Is this booking office lady at Andover a potential future partner

 

[Techniquest]

Some very good fortune at Lea Bridge there, and I'm rather jealous of how many 165s you need. A clearout is more than required here on Chiltern, one day it's going to happen!

Another excellent read, I am of course looking forward to your version of events from Monday now